prettify

verb

pret·​ti·​fy ˈpri-tə-ˌfī How to pronounce prettify (audio)
ˈpər-,
ˈpru̇-
prettified; prettifying
prettification
ˌpri-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən How to pronounce prettify (audio)
ˌpər-
ˌpru̇-
noun
prettifier
ˈpri-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r How to pronounce prettify (audio)
ˈpər-
ˈpru̇-
noun

Examples of prettify in a Sentence

The city is trying to prettify its downtown. The movie prettified what was in reality a very bloody battle.
Recent Examples on the Web Not averse to the panoramic spectacle inherent in desert crossings or infinite expanses of ocean, though never overly prettifying Seydou’s ordeals either, Paolo Carnera’s muscular, color-rich lensing is in line with Garrone’s straightforwardly soulful storytelling. Guy Lodge, Variety, 6 Sep. 2023 And Isobel Waller-Bridge’s score is beautifully in line with the idea of a surface that prettifies the truth. Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 June 2023 Humanizing doesn’t mean prettifying. Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2023 Through the pandemic, the government has also used infantilized language to prettify a harsh reality. Jane Li, Quartz, 14 Apr. 2022 Leight doesn’t prettify the ugly side of our history. Charles McNultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2023 Thanks to Photoshop, researchers could prettify the images in their manuscripts in ways that might cross the line into deception in an effort to clear the bar of peer review. Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky, STAT, 2 Dec. 2022 Ruin is ennobled without being prettified, aestheticized, pushed into the mental distance. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2020 Once more, violence is moved offstage and prettified. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prettify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of prettify was in 1661

Dictionary Entries Near prettify

Cite this Entry

“Prettify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prettify. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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